Second in a series, and okay if you haven't read the first, but there are a lot of references to prior events. #3, the last, was published almost 10 years ago so I am guessing that was it. I like the setting, although you start to wonder how long this zoo is going to last given all the trouble surrounding it. There would be more than a few animal-rights picketers I suspect! But moving on - Iris is likable, there's a couple of the other keepers that are pretty well fleshed out, and the controvery surrounding the elephants is a very real thing even if the protestors are two-dimensional. I think I should have picked up on the clues Littlewood gives for the motive. Lots of info about working in a zoo, not all of it advances the story, but I didn't find it weighed down the narrative. Pretty good pacing, decent dialogue, some unbelievable moves by the characters, all in all I enjoyed it but not one of my top ten for the year.

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